Fence fasteners



March 26, 1963 J. D. LOUDON 3,082,993

FENCE FASTENERS Filed Jan. 19, 1962 INVENTOR JOHN D. LOUDON United States Patent 3,082,993 FENCE FASTENERS John D. London, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, assignor to James Cousins, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Filed Jan. 19, 1962, Ser. No. 167,326 Claims. (Cl. 25612.5)

The invention relates to fasteners for removably securing wire-bound snow fences to their supporting posts.

Snow fences of the kind with which the fastener of the invention particularly is adapted to be used consist of parallel slats of wood approximately /8 of an inch thick by 2 inches wide and about 4 feet long; these slats are disposed in parallel arrangements and are spaced from each other and secured to each other by three pairs of twisted wires, one pair being adjacent one end of the slats, the other pair adjacent the other end and the third pair being at a location intermediate the ends.

Each year in the late fall thousands of miles of these snow fences are installed in parts of the country where the snow fall is appreciable. More frequently snow fences are installed in fields adjacent roads and highways at locations where experience has shown that there is a likelihood of snow drifts accumulating. The snow fences control and localize the snow drifts, and cause them to accumulate harmlessly in the fields, thus reducing to a minimum the drifts which accumulate on the adjacent roads and highways.

The snow fences usually are supported by metal posts which are driven into the ground at spaced intervals. Heretofore the conventional way of attaching the fences to their supporting posts has been by means of short lengths of ordinary steel wire (popularly known as bailing wire) looped around the post and an adjacent fence slat, and the wire ends being twisted together. Usually the fence is attached to each post by three of these twisted wire loops. It will be evident that the installation of a snow fence is a laborious task. In the spring the snow fences must be removed, and this usually is done merely by snippin" the wires with a tool, and despite the care which may be taken to collect the wire fragments, many are left in the fields and later On in the season will cause injury to the farmers cattle who eat them inadvertently; other wire fragments are often scooped up by farm equipment and cause damage to the equipment.

During the winter heavy winds cause the snow fences to move and sway so that the wire loops work-harden and some of the loops will break so that the fence will sag or fall; this of course increases the cost of maintaining the fence. Perhaps it should be added that there also have been many instances of workmen suffering eye injuries and other personal injuries when handling the wir with which the snow fences are attached to their posts.

It is therefore the main object of the invention to provide an improved fastener for attaching snow fences and analogous fences to their posts. It is another object of the invention to provide a fastener which is rugged and durable and which although it can easily be attached to and detached from the posts, nevertheless when in use provides an extremely secure attachment of the fence to the post. It is a further object of the invention to provide a fastener which can be re-used repeatedly.

The invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters are used throughout the several views to indicate like parts and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a length of snow fence attached to a metal post by fasteners constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view, taken from the rear, of the snow fence and post of FIG. 1 showing to an enlarged scale segments of two adjacent slats of a snow fence attached to a U-shaped post by means of a fastener constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of a segment of a snow fence attached to a post by means of a fastener constructed in accordance with the invention, the particular post being a conventional steel angle; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, the post being a steel T-section.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, a typical snow' fence consists of parallel spaced slats 1 interconnected by pairs of twisted wires 2. The snow fence is connected to a post 3 by means of a fastener generally indicated at 4, the fastener, the fence and the post being firmly held together by means of a wooden wedge 5.

The preferred type of post used for supporting snow fences is of U-shaped cross-section, as illustrated in the drawings. A post of this cross-section may be said to be a rounded channel; and it may also be said to be a structural angle with one excess leg. Although the fasteners of the invention preferably are used with posts constituted by U-shaped channels as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, they can also be used satisfactorily with posts of other angular section having at least two legs effectively at to each other such as conventional angles as illustrated in FIG. 3 or T-sections as illustrated in FIG. 4.

The fastener generally indicated at 4 comprises a J- shaped hook with a long leg 6, a shorter leg '7, and a transverse leg 8. The leg 6 is Welded to the centre point of a transverse bar 9, the bar and the legs all being in substantially parallel planes.

To attach the fence to a post, the fence is positioned against the post, the fastener is held at the outside of the fence so that the parallel planes containing the J-hook and the transverse bar are in a vertical position, and the J-hook then is inserted into the space between parallel slats adjacent the post. The fastener then is turned by 90 so that it assumes the position illustrated in FIG. 2. Finally, the wedge 5 is dropped between the rear of the post and the bight of the J-hook constituted by the legs 6, 7 and 8; thus, the fastener securely holds the fence against the post. Any vibration in the fence caused by winds or by manipulation of the fence can only result in a tighter engagement of the wedge.

As will be apparent from a study of FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the bar 9 is of such a length that the portions thereof to either side of its point of attachment with the leg 6 are of a length appreciably greater than the space between adjacent slats of the fence with which the fastener is used; thus the bar will, under all conditions, bear against the two adjacent slat-s. Also, the relative lengths of the legs 6 and 7 of the J-shaped hook should be so chosen that the dimension of the opening between the bar 9 and the free end of the short leg 7 of the J-hook is not less than the distance between the edge 3a and the face 3b of the post, thus permitting convenient assembly of the fastener relative to the post.

It will be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is a preferred example and various modifications can be carried out without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A fastener for removably securing to a post a fence of the kind that includes spaced slats interconnected by wire or the like, comprising a J-shaped hook having one leg longer than the other, a bar secured to the longer leg substantially perpendicularly to the said leg, the bar being of a length such that when the longer leg of the hook is thrust in a space between the slats of an adjacent pair the bar will bear against each slat of the pair and bridge the space therebetween, the fastener when securing a fence to a post having its bar bearing against a pair of adjacent 3 stats and against one side of a post positioned opposite the space between the said slats, the bight of the J shaped 100k being adapted to receive a wedge inserted between the bight and the other side of the post thus to clamp the fence to the post.

2. A fastener for removably securing to a post a tence of the kind that includes spaced slats interconnected by wire or the like, comprising a J-shaped hook having one leg longer than the other, a bar secured to the longer leg substantially perpendicularly to the said leg, the bar and the hook being in substantially parallel planes, the bar being of a length such that when the longer leg of the hook is thrust in a space between the stats of an adjacent pair the bar will bear against each slat of the pair and bridge the space therebetween, the fastener when securing a fence to a post having its bar bearing against a pair of adjacent slats and against one side of a post positioned opposite the space between the said slats, the'bight of the J-shaped hook being adapted to receive a wedge inserted between the bight and the other side of the post thus to clamp the fence to the post. 7

3. A fastener for removably securing to a post a fence of the kind that includes spaced slats interconnected by wire or the like, comprising a J-shaped hook having one le longer than the other, a bar secured to the longer leg substantially perpendicularly to the said leg, the bar and the hook being in substantial parallel planes, the longer leg of the book being secured to the bar at a point approximately midway between the ends of the bar, the bar portions at each side of the point of attachment to the longer leg of the hook being longer than the width of the space between adjacent slats, the fastener when secur- 4 ing a fence to a post having its bar bearing against a pair of adjacent slats and against one side of a post positioned opposite the space between the said slats, the bight of the J-shaped book being adapted to receive a wedge inserted between the bight and the other side of the post thus to clamp the fence to the post.

4. A fastener for re-movably securing a fence of the ind that includes spaced slats interconnected by Wire or the like, to a post having two legs effectively at 90 to each other, comprising a J-shaped hook having one leg longer than the other, a bar secured to the longer leg substantially perpendicularly to the said leg, the bar and the hook lying in substantially parallel planes, the longer leg of the hook being secured to the bar at a point approximately midway between the ends of the bar, the bar portions at each side of the point of attachment to the leg of the hook being longer than the width of the space between adjacent slats, the fastener when securing a fence to a post having its bar bearing against a pair of adjacent slats and opposite the outer face of one leg of the post, the bight of the hook being adapted to receive a wedge inserted between the bight and the inner face of the aforesaid one leg of the post thus to clamp the fence to the post.

5. A fastener as claimed in claim 4, in which the (liruension of the opening between the bar and the end of the shorter leg of the U-shaped hook is not less than the distance between the edge of the aforesaid other leg of the post and the outer face of the aforesaid one leg of the post.

No references cited. 

1. A FASTENER FOR REMOVABLY SECURING TO A POST A FENCE OF THE KIND THAT INCLUDES SPACED SLATS INTERCONNECTED BY WIRE OR THE LIKE, COMPRISING A J-SHAPED HOOK HAVING ONE LEG LONGER THAN THE OTHER, A BAR SECURED TO THE LONGER LEG SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULARLY TO THE SAID LEG, THE BAR BEING OF A LENGTH SUCH THAT WHEN THE LONGER LEG OF THE HOOK IS THRUST IN A SPACE BETWEEN THE SLATS OF AN ADJACENT PAIR THE BAR WILL BEAR AGAINST EACH SLAT OF THE PAIR AND BRIDGE THE SPACE THEREBETWEEN, THE FASTENER WHEN SECURING A FENCE TO A POST HAVING ITS BAR BEARING AGAINST A PAIR OF ADJACENT SLATS AND AGAINST ONE SIDE OF A POST POSITIONED OPPOSITE THE SPACE BETWEEN THE SAID SLATS, THE BIGHT OF THE J-SHAPED HOOK BEING ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A WEDGE INSERTED BETWEEN THE BIGHT AND THE OTHER SIDE OF THE POST THUS TO CLAMP THE FENCE TO THE POST. 